Characteristics: Valerian is a perennial herb that is native to Europe, North America, and parts of Asia (Kuhn and Winston, 2000). It blooms white to red flowers from June to September. The European valerian, valeriana officinalis, has an Indian counterpart that is found in the Himalayas used similarly in Ayuvedic medicine called, valeriana jatamansi (Verma et al., 2011).

History: The valerian herb has an ancient history of medicinal use that goes back as far as the ancient Greeks and the Romans (Castleman, 2001). The term valeriana first occurred around the 10th century, it was derived from the latin ‘valere’, meaning, ‘to be strong’. The distinguished Greek physician, Dioscorides, recommended valerian as a diuretic and antidote to poison. Pliny, a Roman physician, recommended it as a pain reliver, while Galen, another Greek physician, prescribed it as a sleep aid and decongestant. By the time the herb started being called valerian early herbalists viewed it as something of a panacea and it became called all-heal. In the 12th century the German abbess called Hildegard of Bingen applied valerian as a sleeping aid and tranquilizer. This was approximately 100 years prior to the legend of the pied piper who supposedly used valerian to charm rats and children out of the town, Hamelin, in Germany.

Later, the 17th century herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper praised valerian and added to its claimed medicinal uses as he said, ‘The decoction of the root … is of special virtue against the plague … (it) provokes a woman’s courses … is particularly good for those troubled with cough … is excellent (for) any sores, hurts, or wounds …’. Remarkably, early colonists found Native American tribes using the roots of valerian to treat wounds, this use brought the herb to the attention of Samuel Thomson, founder of Thomsonian herbal medicine, popularised before the American Civil War. Thomson called valerian, ‘the best nervine known’. The Eclectics in the 19th century recommended valerian as a ‘calmative… for epilepsy… mild spasmodic affections… (and) hypochondria’.

Current applications: Valerian is one of the great European nervines and is widely known and used by the general public. In Holistic Herbal, David Hoffman mentions valerian is one of the most useful relaxing nervines that is available to us (Hoffman, 1998). He recommends it for tension, anxiety, hysteria, insomnia, intestinal cramps and intestinal colic, and period pain and cramps. It may also help with migraines and rheumatic pains. For tension and anxiety, valerian may be combined with American skullcap. This also forms a good basis to build an insomnia formula, for example, milky oat seed, lemon balm, and St. John’s wort may be combined with these two, in equal parts) for sleep troubles. For cramps, valerian may be combined with crampbark. Thomas Bartram recommends valerian for neuralgia in his Bartram’s encyclopedia of herbal medicine (Bartram, 2013).

Matthew Wood mentions valerian is principally used as a remedy for insomnia or to relax the muscles and ease pain (Wood, 2001). He also points out its action on the nervous system is best obtained when the circulation of those centers inactive and feeble, especially when there is paleness of face and the skin is cool. Valerian is an excellent cerebral stimulant and a powerful relaxant to the nerves and muscles.

Science: There are two types of compounds in valerian that have attracted interest (Lindahl et al., 1989). These are the valepotriates and sesquiterpenes. It is thought that the valepotriates are responsible for the sedative action of valerian. A study found that valerian was effective for reducing insomnia versus the placebo in humans (Lindahl et al., 1989), but these findings conflict with other studies. In another experiment, valerian found was not better against insomnia than a placebo, however the authors did find valerian and hops together were significantly better (Koetter et al., 2007). Another study found valerian with lemon balm effective at improving sleep in healthy people compared with the placebo (Cerny et al., 1999). Another combination study found valerian and hops together displayed a trend towards better sleep in the treatment group, although this was not quite significant it was very close (p = 0.06) (Morin et al., 2005).

A relatively recent review article concluded that most studies seemed to favour valerian having a hypnotic effect alone or in combination, however, more large scale double blind placebo controlled studies are required to resolve the issue (Shanah, 2010). It may be sensible to combine it with hops for insomnia, although it may be effective alone in milder cases.

Safety: High. However, in larger doses be very cautious if combing with sedative medication as it is a mild sedative.

Dosage: Tincture; 10-60 drops 2-3 times daily. In larger doses it may produce the opposite effect and in fact over stimulate a person.

Form: A dried root tincture is effective.

Scientific Summary

Research on humans

Insomnia: One study (n = 27 in treatment group, double blind placebo controlled) examined if an extract of valerian could significantly reduce the insomnia, they found it could (Lindahl et al., 1989).

Insomnia(II): Another study (n = 43, double blind placebo controlled) tested if valerian or valerian and hops could reduce insomnia compared with the placebo (Koetter et al., 2007). They found valerian and hops was effective, but valerian alone was not.

Insomnia(III): A large study (n = 98, double blind placebo controlled) tested if valerian and lemon balm together improved sleep quality in healthy individuals compared with a placebo (Cerny et al., 1999). They found it could.

Insomnia(IV): Another large study (n = 184, placebo controlled) observed that a combination of valerian and hops improved sleep in individuals with insomnia, but the effect was not quite significant, it was nearly so (p = 0.06) (Morin et al., 2005).